Patricia Pacheco - Advisor, Todd Sulchek, PhD

"Fc Functionalized Microparticles for Macrophage and Complement System Activation"

Pathogen clearance through Fc receptor mediated phagocytosis and complement system activation is a key part of the immune response. We show that the density of Fc ligand on the surface of microparticles of various sizes affects the macrophage and complement system response. This has broad implications in immune based therapies such as vaccine delivery and treating drug resistant infections.

Archana Boopathy - Advisor, Mike Davis, PhD

"Effect of scaffold immobilized Notch ligand on Notch activation and its functional role in CPCs"

The overall goal of this project is to develop a bioactive scaffold containing the Notch1 ligand Jagged1 for delivery of cardiac progenitor cells (CPCs) to the heart in a rat model of myocardial infarction. A scaffold system consisting of self assembling peptide nanofibers and Jagged 1 has been developed. The effect of stiffness and ligand density of the scaffold is being studied in Notch1 reporter system and its functional consequence in CPCs.

The Graduate and Post-Doc (GaP) Seminar Series is a weekly event of biotechnology related research presentations by two graduate students or post-docs of IBB and is co-sponsored by BME. It is held every Wednesday at 12:00pm in IBB 1128 and refreshments are provided. If your research group or department would like to present at future seminars, please contact Manu Platt, PhD.